just a few hours to go. the hoarse voices of the candidates making their final pitches as they hopscotch between most crucial states. the storm after the storm. a developing nor'easter with 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts, snow, rain, and just look at whe it's headed. all that, as power is being restored as quickly as possible. gas shortages are lessening and rebuilding efforts are barely getting off the ground. >> this is "early today" for monday, november 5th, 2012. a very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. election day is less than 24

hours away, and the latest polls show this is still a neck and neck race. according to the final preelection nbc news "wall street journal" possible, 48% of likely voters support president obama, while a close 47% favor governor mitt romney. the president holds the same narrow 48% to 47% edge among likely voters in virginia. mr. obama holds a slightly wider lead in florida with support from 49% of likely voters compared to romney's 47. and in all important ohio, our poll shows president obama holds a six-point lead over his republican rival with 51% to romney's 45. nbc's tracy potts is in cincinnati, ohio, with details on the candidates' final frantic day of campaigning. tracy, very good morning to you. >> reporter: veronica, good morning. good morning, everyone. it is going to be a very busy last day of campaigning. it was a busy weekend, especially here in ohio. all four candidates showing up here in various parts of ohio

over the weekend. it is becoming very clear that all roads lead through ohio in this important presidential race. let's start with the president who is right here in cincinnati last night where he talked about governor romney and that six-point lead that he has as of now in our poll over governor romney, saying the reason he's not doing very well in ohio is because he opposed the auto industry. a lot of those workers were based here in ohio. governor romney was also in ohio over the weekend up in cleveland, but where he got a lot of attention was in pennsylvania. this was his first and last stop during the general election in pennsylvania. it's sort of a new strategy for the romney campaign to go after pennsylvania. they have voted democratic for the last 20 years, but now late in the game, romney's team seems to think that they can win pennsylvania, and they are putting a lot of focus over the weekend, they did, into pennsylvania. vice president biden was also in

ohio along with paul ryan. again, a lot of people focusing on ohio. we were here for early voting yesterday. the lines are extremely long. veronica? >> tracy potts this morning in cincinnati. tracy, thank you. there was anger and frustration in florida where voters lined up to cast absentee ball lots after being cut off from the early voting deadline on saturday. our national correspondent explains what happened there and other potential election problems. >> reporter: frustrated voters outside the miami-dade election office after the county announced it would open its doors to provide and accept absentee ballots, but so many voters showed up and election officials were overwhelmed. they shut their doors and then decided to reopen. the democratic party sued to extend early voters after some were stuck in lines for hours. >> i'm a little upset about the

lines, like five hours now. >> reporter: they are embracing for lots of problems on tuesday, especially in the battleground states. in ohio, experts say because of confusion over absentee ballot rules, more than 200,000 voters may be forced to cast provisional ballots that won't be counted until ten days after election day. >> there's a realistic chance that we will not know which candidate won the presidential election in ohio. >> reporter: another big wild card, citizen groups like true the vote that says it is training nearly a million poll watchers to be on the lookout for voter fraud. >> we will also be watching the poll watchers to make sure that they are not acting as bullies. >> reporter: meanwhile, hurricane sandy has swamped election day in the northeast.

florida new jersey apology stations are beseejd. >> the timing of the storm was horrible for us. >> i have no idea where we'll be able to vote. >> reporter: this weekend, the state announced it will let voters displaced by sandy e-mail or fax their ballots in and military trucks may be deployed as backup polling stations. >> we want to let you know brian williams and our entire political team will be with you every step of the way on election night. our coverage begins at 7:00, 6:00 central tomorrow night. now for a look at the weather and that nor'easter that is headed our way, bill karins is down in democracy plaza for us this morning. good morning to you, bill. >> good morning to you, veronica. this is the place to be tuesday night. behind me, the famous ice skating rink with the electoral map on it. as nbc calls the states on election night, they'll all be colored in in either red or blue

as we go to the magical number of 270 electoral votes. we also have a big story that's going to be happening out here as we go into wednesday. the storm is now diving down through missouri and iowa, bringing some cold rain to those areas. it will eventually work its way down to the southeast. your election day forecast -- it doesn't look like the election day forecast is going to be too bad anywhere. rain will be a little issue in the polls. shouldn't affect turnout too much. wednesday, the storm will be coming up the coast, intensifying off of virginia, the dell mar have a. not what we needed. we still have over a million people without power. the coast is very vulnerable right now. there will be enough cold air inland that the mountainous areas will be dealing with snow. but for the big cities along the coast, a cold rain and wind. we'll have to watch out for some of those trees. the forecast today, no issues out there today too much, just that rain diving down through the mississippi valley.

otherwise, it looks like a pretty nice monday. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. as i mentioned, we do have cold temperatures. here in new york, temperatures down to the 30s. you really feel for anyone trying to stay in their homes as we go throughout this very cold period post-sandy. so veronica, the bottom line is this storm will probably be 0.01 the damage of sandy, but not what we needed. >> democracy plaza is looking pretty good. >> it's looking very good. once we get close to the 270 number, it's going to be magical. >> democracy plaza is taking over the iconic rockefeller center. it's the place to watch the votes be counted for president of the united states. you can check it out on the web.

if you are in the new york city area, come on down. be sure to come down to democracy plaza in rockefeller center. look at that. it's gorgeous. we're going to have major updates on the recovery efforts for those in hurricane sandy's path. plus, one of the most accurate predictors dating back to 1900. it's precisely picked the winner over 89% of the time. that's coming up next. you're watching "early today."

at least 111 people now confirmed dead in the wake of hurricane sandy. power continues to be restored to millions after it went down one week ago. new york governor andrew cuomo says the fuel shortage that's led to long lines could go on for days, and he warned those taking mass transit this morning can expect a lot more company as people find other ways to go to work and students return to school. in new jersey, the odd-even

licensing plate order remains in effect. many banks who waive fees say they'll extend those breaks until wednesday, and a massive crane dangling over a new york city high-rise has now been secured. and that means, people living and working near the site will finally be allowed to return. viewers of our nbc universal telethon special hurricane sandy donated nearly $23 million to american red cross. it was the highest number of donations made by phone, text, and online to the red cross in five years. if you'd like to make a donation or find out more information, please check out nbcnews.com. more than a thousand runners who lost out on their chance to run in this year's new york city marathon joined together in a different kind of race on sunday, to help those hardest hit by sandy. they traveled on the same ferry that would have taken them to

staten island to run in the marathon, delivering desperately needed supplies like water, toilet paper and ready-to-eat meals. and now let's take a look at how wall street starts out this morning. the dow opens at 13,093 after it dropped 139 points friday. the s&p lost 13. the nasdaq stumbled 37. taking a look at overseas trading, the hang seng was down 104. until we know the outcome of the presidential election, there could be a lot sitting on the sidelines. still earnings season marches on. big companies like newscorp, jcpenn jcpenney. this morning, toyota raises profit forecast thanks in part to rising sales of its prius hybrid. apple could soon be shelling out big bucks. a mexican company named ifone is

claiming victory saying it registered iphone four years before apple introduced its in mexico. in mexico city, leaders claimed the fiscal cliff was the biggest short-material threat to global growth. in the northeast, the national arch for a gallon of regular saw its steepest drop since early 2008, dropping nearly 22 cents in the past two weeks to an average of $3.55 a gallon. on the relief front, they are canning water instead of beer to be shipped to sandy's victims. meanwhile, pepsico and walmart are donating trucks of food and supplies in the wake of last week's storm. finally, everyone has their favorite election prediction. here is one that's based on the

stock market. one investment researcher says the direction of stock prices two months prior to the election has accurately predicted the winner 89.3% of the time since 1900. markets were up in september, but down for october. a bionic climber and an iconic african-american. plus, another presidential predictor, a win or loss by the washington redskins on their final game before election day has accurately predicted the presidency in 17 of the past 18 elections. we're going to have details next. it's a cold, chilly monday. there's a storm coming for election day. i'll have the details coming up. you're watching "early today."

hey there, welcome back. some stories making news this morning now, a report is expected this week on what caused the crash of the atlanta police helicopter saturday night, killing two officer. the choerp was searching for a runaway boy when it hit a power line pole and crashed to the street. the accidental death of a 2-year-old boy at the pittsburgh zoo yesterday was horrific. he died when he fell 11 feet into an exhibit and was mauled by dogs. military campbell has died at the age of 78.

he won the gold medal in the ten-event competition in melbourne, australia. in chicago, senator mark kirk of illinois we're a brace on his left leg as he climbed 37 floors in the sky rise chicago charity event in the willis tower, the tallest building in the united states. it was the senator's first public appearance since suffering a major stroke in january. a 31-year-old amputee climbed all 103 flights of stairs in the same charity fundraiser. zack votter was testing a high-tech experimental bionic leg controlled by his mind. checking out some sports now. atlanta is still the only undefeated team in the nfl. the falcons scored a fourth quarter touchdown. later kicked a field goal and held off the dallas cowboys to wrap up their eighth win, 19-13. colts quarterback andrew luck set an nfl rookie record of 433 yards passing with two

touchdowns as indianapolis beat miami 23-20. and the washington redskins lost their last home game before the election to the carolina panthers 21-13. the so called redskins rule. it might mean that mitt romney will be elected president. the redskins loss prediction has been correct 17 out of 18 times. in college football, alabama held on to the top spot in the bcs standings after pulling out a win over lsu. kansas state is number two followed by oregon, notre dame, and georgia. just ahead, your election day weather forecast, and please share those photos you've taken of your election experience. you use #msnbc2012 and we might just show them on air or online.

welcome back to "early today" on this monday morning. i'm live in democracy plaza. as far as the forecast goes, it will be very cold for everyone still trying to recover and without power in the northeast today. high temperatures only there in the 40s. we are going to watch some rain along the southeast. also through arkansas and into areas of mississippi. the election day forecast, that storm then makes the bend down through southeast. the best chance of a rainy day is going to be the southeast. then on wednesday, we'll watch that turning into a nor'easter into the coast. we have two days to wait for that. as far as election day goes, we're looking okay in most areas

of the country. >> so a little bit of good news there. thanks, bill. now for some entertainment news. "wreck-it ralph" took the first weekend of the holiday box office season with a $49 million debut. it is the highest grossing opening weekend in disney animation history. actor john cusack has announced his production company is going to start shooting a film next year based on the life of outspoken conservative rush limbaugh. cusack, who came out in support of president obama in 2008, is expected to play limbaugh, most likely with the help of some makeup, i guess you could say. and if you missed "snl" this weekend, take a look at their rendition of michael bloomberg and his enthusiastic sign language interpreter. >> i'd also like to thank my staff with the special thanks to my sign language translator lydia, who brought some pizazz to what would otherwise have been a dour occasion.

thank you, lydia, for your pizazz. i turn it over now to new jersey governor chris christie. >> hello. hello, i'm governor chris christie. this is my interpreter rock see. things are bad, okay? but we're new jersey, we're going to be fine. we don't get sad in new jersey, we get even. so sleep with one eye open, sandy! >> that was just too much. and there were some other good skits in there about sandy and politics. you have to check it out online. >> that was awesome. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. we're off to a quiet start on this monday. we expect some rain and snow by the beginning of the week. cloudy skies but no precipitation. 41 at the airport. we will start with cloud cover. it will be mostly sunny this afternoon and cool. we will check the seven-day forecast coming up in just a few minutes. >> 4:57.

41 degrees at the airport. >> after months of campaigning, the end is one day away. >> early voting lines are very long in cincinnati. we will show them to you. >> sarah caldwell checking on your mor

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> another chilly morning. >> the temperature will make it up to 50 this afternoon. we should be close to 60 today. cloud cover to start. we will